Talent School Director: Darren Yeagle

As a youth player and native of Louisville, Kentucky, I was named Gatorade Player of the Year, Kentucky High School Player of the Year, and I was also a three-time All American in High School.Following a successful Youth and High School career in Louisville, I attended Indiana University and earned several accolades, such as Big Ten Freshman of the Year.Additionally, I had the honor of playing for the United States u-20 National Team during my collegiate career.Following my collegiate playing experience, I went on to play soccer professionally for three years, with the likes of the Louisville Lightning, and had opportunities to train with the MLS Team: Dallas F.C.I can say firmly that my playing experience has given me to opportunity to be exposed to and coached by some of the finest coaches in the Country, and my hope as I transition into my coaching career is to give back to youth soccer players in the same capacity that I was mentored along the way as a player.

To date, I have coached at a Club/Select level for the Kentucky Fire Juniors (KFJ – formally Mockingbird Valley Soccer Club) for nearly four (4) years, and I am currently in my second year as Assistant Coach for the Men’s Program at Spalding University.

My philosophy in soccer is very simple: it is very important to teach the proper fundamentals of soccer at an early age before players develop bad habits individually. The idea behind MVSC’s Talent School is to allow me to challenge players of all ages who are willing to work hard towards becoming the best player they can be by introducing these technical elements/fundamentals of the game, and pushing each player to master these elements of the game. My training sessions are not only technical but tactical as well, because it is important that players not only have the necessary skill-set(s) to be successful individually, but also have the knowledge of the game, in hopes that players will know what to do in certain situations to offer the highest success rate for them, and their team.